Java 5.0, code-named "Tiger", promises to be the most significant new version of Java since the introduction of the language. With over a hundred substantial changes to the core language, as well as numerous library and API additions, developers have a variety of new features, facilities, and techniques available.But with so many changes, where do you start? You could read through the lengthy, often boring language specification; you could wait for the latest 500 page tome on concepts and theory; you could even play around with the new JDK, hoping you figure things out--or you can get straight to work with Java 5.0 Tiger: A Developer's Notebook.This no-nonsense, down-and-dirty guide by bestselling Java authors Brett McLaughlin and David Flanagan skips all the boring prose and lecture, and jumps right into Tiger. You'll have a handle on the important new features of the language by the end of the first chapter, and be neck-deep in code before you hit the halfway point. Using the task-oriented format of this new series, you'll get complete practical coverage of generics, learn how boxing and unboxing affects your type conversions, understand the power of varargs, learn how to write enumerated types and annotations, master Java's new formatting methods and the for/in loop, and even get a grip on concurrency in the JVM.Light on theory and long on practical application, Java 5.0 Tiger: A Developer's Notebook allows you to cut to the chase, getting straight to work with Tiger's new features. The new Developer's Notebooks series from O'Reilly covers important new tools for software developers. Emphasizing example over explanation and practice over theory, they focus on learning by doing--you'll get the goods straight from the masters, in an informal and code-intensive style that suits developers. If you've been curious about Tiger, but haven't known where to start, this no-fluff, lab-style guide is the solution.

Brett McLaughlin

Brett McLaughlin is a bestselling and award-winning non-fiction author. His books on computer programming, home theater, and analysis and design have sold in excess of 100,000 copies. He has been writing, editing, and producing technical books for nearly a decade, and is as comfortable in front of a word processor as he is behind a guitar, chasing his two sons and his daughter around the house, or laughing at reruns of Arrested Development with his wife.

Brett spends most of his time these days on cognitive theory, codifying and expanding on the learning principles that shaped the Head First series into a bestselling phenomenon. He's curious about how humans best learn, why Star Wars was so formulaic and still so successful, and is adamant that a good video game is the most effective learning paradigm we have.

David Flanagan

David Flanagan is a computer programmer who spends most of his time writing about JavaScript and Java. His books with O'Reilly include Java in a Nutshell, Java Examples in a Nutshell, Java Foundation Classes in a Nutshell, JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, and JavaScript Pocket Reference. David has a degree in computer science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He lives with his wife and children in the U.S. Pacific Northwest bewteen the cities of Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia. David has a blog at www.davidflanagan.com.

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The Developer's Notebook series is modeled on the tradition of laboratory notebooks. Laboratory notebooks are an invaluable tool for researchers and their successors.The purpose of a laboratory notebook is to facilitate the recording of data and conclusions as the work is being conducted, creating a faithful and immediate history. The notebook begins with a title page that includes the owner's name and the subject of research. The pages of the notebook should be numbered and prefaced with a table of contents. Entries must be clear, easy to read, and accurately dated; they should use simple, direct language to indicate the name of the experiment and the steps taken. Calculations are written out carefully and relevant thoughts and ideas recorded. Each experiment is introduced and summarized as it is added to the notebook. The goal is to produce comprehensive, clearly organized notes that can be used as a reference. Careful documentation creates a valuable record and provides a practical guide for future developers. Reg Aubry was the production editor and copyeditor for Java 5.0 Tiger: A Developer's Notebook. Sada Preisch was the proofreader. Sada Preisch, Colleen Gorman, and Claire Cloutier provided quality control. Johnna and Tom Dinse wrote the index.Edie Freedman designed the cover of this book. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1 using the Officina Sans and JuniorHandwriting fonts.Melanie Wang designed the interior layout, based on a series design by Edie Freedman and David Futato. This book was converted by Julie Hawks to FrameMaker 5.5.6 with a format conversion tool created by Erik Ray, Jason McIntosh, Neil Walls, and Mike Sierra that uses Perl and XML technologies. The text font is Adobe Boton; the heading font is ITC Officina Sans; the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed, and the handwriting font is a modified version of JRHand made by Tepid Monkey Fonts and modified by O'Reilly. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Jessamyn Read using Macromedia FreeHand 9 and Adobe Photoshop 6. This colophon was written by Colleen Gorman.

Overall Java 5.0 Tiger A Developer's Notebook was a quick informative read. The subject was audience appropriate and, as promised, did not waste time rehashing a basic Java tutorial.

The examples were easy to follow and thorough though sometimes trivial. In particular the explanation of using parameterized Maps seemed too long considering the simple nature of the topic. One example on Enums on page 40 was fairly confusing due to an unintentional typo while, amusingly enough, describing the dangers of typos.

I found the explanation of Generics useful especially the section dealing with type wildcards. The Enum section was particularly useful to me as I am have been converting work code over to use Enums. Also, while I have worked with Enums before I have not added methods to them, nor did I realized this functionality existed before reading the book. The section on Auto Boxing was interesting though could have been shorter in length as not much has changed from a user's standpoint. Before reading the book, I did not know about the new variable length argument list feature. I found this section particularly helpful. I found that the book seemed too dwell for too long on annotations which did not hold much interest for me. The section on formatting was informative and the jab at C fans was amusing.

This book was very helpful in highlighting the new features of Java 5.0.

Well done! I have been looking for this feedback coz multiple times the same has happened to me in case of orielly books. Not having the soft copy of code makes it impossible to cross check whether author is bluffing or not. And all those who have read exhaustively enough would know that some authors simply print out things which they aren't sure of themselves.

"Java 1.5 Tiger &#150; A Developer's Notebook" has all the information and quality we have come to expect from O'Reilly. However, the developer's notebook series has a very different style than the animal books. The book was a true page-turner and I read all 171 pages in two days.

This book really looks like a notebook complete with notes in the margins, graph paper and coffee cup stains! There is also plenty of room in the margins for the reader to add notes. This book is informative, useful and looks really cool!

A guru narrates the book. He tells you about Java 1.5 and answers your questions. Each chapter discusses several labs in a task/how to I do that?/what about ... format. It is like the author walks you through doing the labs. It really does read like a conversation. As the authors put it &#150; "All lab, no lecture."

The code examples begin on page two and are prevalent throughout the book. The authors give warnings about common pitfalls and tasks that you cannot do &#150; just like you would expect a guru to do. The authors also give opinions and recommendations.

The book assumes a working knowledge of java 1.4 (or earlier.) This is especially important in the conncurrency section. There is excellent cross-referencing so the chapters and tasks can be read in almost any order. I would not give a 5 unless a book was amazing. This one earned it!